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Comet Wild 2

Comet Wild 2 is a short-period comet that
orbits the Sun once
every 6.39 years. A Swiss astronomer
named Paul Wild discovered it on January 6, 1978. Wild 2 is
pronounced "Vilt 2". The comet comes about
as close
to the
Sun as the planet Mars, and loops about
as far away as the planet Jupiter.
The comet's nucleus is about 5 km (3 miles) across, so Wild 2 is not an especially large comet.

Astronomers routinely calculate the positions of newly discovered comets
at earlier times to make sure someone hasn't re-discovered a previously
known comet. The scientists made a surprising discovery when they calculated
the orbit of Wild 2 backwards
in time
to the years
before
its discovery.
They realized
that on September 10, 1974, the comet passed very close to Jupiter and
had its orbit substantially altered by that giant planet's gravity. Before
1974, Wild's orbit was in the outer solar system, ranging between Jupiter's
and Uranus' distance from the Sun.
So, until recently, Wild 2 had never come very close to the Sun.

Since Wild 2 has only taken a few swings
near the heat of the Sun, most
of its ices have not been melted away. Apparently Wild 2 has been kept
in cold storage since the early days of our Solar
System, which makes
it a very interesting comet to study. Studies of Wild 2 may help scientists
understand what the materials that originally formed our Solar System
were like.

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